A liquid crystal display is used widely as a display in various information processing devices. In a liquid crystal display panel in the liquid crystal display, a polarizer should be arranged for the image formation system, and generally a polarizing plate is used.
A thin film transistor-driven twisted nematic liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) most widespread at present, when viewed in an inclined direction, shows a phenomenon of lowered contrast and reversed brightness in assign intensity level and has the viewing angle property of lowered display characteristics. To achieve a wide viewing angle with good visibility by improving this viewing angle property, a polarizing plate with optical compensation layer, comprising an optical compensation film laminated on a polarizing plate, is used. As the optical compensation film, for example, a polymer-stretched film in which a polymer is uniaxially or biaxially stretched, or a liquid crystal alignment film in which a liquid crystal polymer is aligned, is used. Lamination of a polarizing plate on an optical compensation film and subsequent adhesion of the polarizing plate with optical compensation layer onto a liquid crystal display panel are conducted usually via a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer. The polarizing plate and the optical compensation film, because of their material properties, generate a dimensional change due to shrinkage or expansion in a high-temperature or high-temperature and high-humidity environment. The polarizing plate shows a higher dimensional change. Accordingly, when the polarizing plate with optical compensation layer is applied to a liquid crystal display, the stress due to a difference in dimensional change between the polarizing plate and the optical compensation film, caused by generated heat from a backlight etc., act to the side of the optical compensation film. As a result, a liquid crystal display panel using the polarizing plate with optical compensation layer has the problem of display irregularity. To solve this problem, a polarizing plate with optical compensation layer in which the elasticity modulus of a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer laminating the optical compensation film and the polarizing plate is specified, is proposed (see, for example, JP-A No. 2001-272542). According to the patent document, the display irregularity caused by the polarizing plate with optical compensation layer can be suppressed.
However, there is the case where the polarizing plate with optical compensation layer is used as a laminate comprising two or more optical compensation films, further laminating a optical compensation film. In this case, the dimensional change in the polarizing plate with optical compensation layer is greater than the dimensional change in the optical compensation films. Accordingly, the stress due to a difference in dimensional change between the polarizing plate with optical compensation layer and the optical compensation films act to each film, and in the mode of the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer described in the above-mentioned patent document, the display irregularity of the LCD panel cannot be sufficiently suppressed in some cases.